sweet disposition

1

"If I was a carpenter I would build you a window into my soul, But I would keep it shut and locked, So when you look into it you see a reflection of yourself."... Those were the last words that I spoke to Aiden Colton Sawyer.

Ivan, Oregon is a small sea side town on the west coast of the United States. The population is just shy of 1000 people, and there are only two schools. One school kindergarten through fifth grade, and the other sixth to senior year.

Everybody knew everybody here. After all, you practically spent every single day of your upbringing with the same group of kid's. Except for me. I guess I could be described as a loner. I never made an effort to enjoy the company of other's, nor did I desire to participate with other students. Being alone was completely fine with me, in fact it was enjoyable. Being left to my thoughts all the time never really let me question my sense of self like most teenagers. I knew exactly what I wanted in life, and how I was going to get it. I was determined, ambitious, and an overall introvert.

It wasn't until the summer after my senior year when I finally let another person into my thoughts . I met Aiden just like any cheesy romantic movie. Aiden was visiting my town with his family for the summer when he approached me in my father's bait shop. Naturally, we formed a bond that was stronger than anything I have ever felt before. He made me smile, laugh, and feel completely at ease. It was a typical summer love just like the ones you would watch in a sappy soup opera except for one aspect. Aiden couldn't walk.

When Aiden was just 3 years old he had fallen down a flight of stairs and twisted his leg, but doctors found much more than just a fractured bone. After multiple tests and MRIs they diagnosed Aiden with Osteosarcoma. Osteosarcoma is a type of cancer that eats at tissue and weakens bones. Doctors put Aiden through several rounds of chemotherapy during grade school. Finally when he was in 6th grade he underwent a surgery to remove the cancer completely. Unfortunately, this left Aiden's legs useless as he was paralyzed from the waist down. Although Aiden Colton Sawyer may not be considered a completed person he was the missing piece in everyone else's life.

If Aiden grew up healthy he would have had a very different life. He lit up the room with his bright smile and his curly sandy blonde hair. Whenever he entered a room everyone's eyes would focus on him, and that was not because he was the boy in a wheelchair, but it was because he was truly exquisite and virtuous.

Aiden and I spent the entire summer together completing what he called his "Adventure Journal ".  He wrote it right before he had his operation to remove his cancer, and filled it with everything he wanted to do before he died. Well, he wasn't planning on dying any time soon so the book was filled with hundreds of activities. My favorite activity (the geekiest on the list) was to steal a book from the library.

Aiden was a truly wonderful person, and the things he wrote in that book were so spontaneous. That boy didn't have a rebellious bone in his body, and i can can't help but still giggle that his idea of mischief was to steal a library book of all things.